I Was Surprised and Very Pleased With the Defense

There were far more positives than negatives Sunday afternoon in the win over the Seattle Seahawks. The defense, for the most part, played very well and the offense played well enough, especially in the second half.

The key to the game was pass rush on Russell Wilson and while Aaron Rodgers was sacked more often the Mike Daniels and Nick Perry got to Wilson 3 times and the rest of the pass rush hit him 7 more times holding the Seahawks to just 3 field goals.

In the past the defense would have given up a TD after Rodgers threw the interception setting the Seahawks up at the 50 after the disputed penalties (more on that later). But this time they held, especially stopping former Packer Eddie Lacy on his first two carries of his new career as a Seahawk (more on Lacy later).

The only negative of the first half on defense was giving up the field goal with 55 seconds left. There was not a single person (of the Packer Backers I’ve watched the games with since 2001 and not the newcomers in the room at Timmer’s-more on them later) in the room didn’t say before the offense was forced to punt that if the Seahawks got the ball back they would score, because we’ve seen that situation before and Dom Capers’ never disappoints and Sunday it happened again. However, this time they held for a field goal instead of a TD. So that negative turned out to a positive.

The second half defense was surprisingly good considering the other part of history repeating itself is the opposing team makes adjustments at the half and the Capers does not. But this time the defense put more pressure on Wilson sacking him 2 times in the second half holding the No. 1 team in the NFL power rankings to just 2 second half field goals.

Perry and Daniels looked great. Just great. Capers opened the game with a 3-man line of Dean Lowry, Kenny Clark and Daniels and while for the most part if was still a 2-man line of Clark and Daniels it was refreshing to see the 3-4 played with 3 linemen, instead of the 2-4-5 Capers like to play.

It surprised me to see Damarious Randall starting at right corner, instead of Quinten Rollins. Rollins has been the talk of training camp and the preseason, but, just like Vegas, it seems what happens in the preseason stays in the preseason. The local kiss-ass media seems to only tout the party line as far as personnel is concerned. I wish I was a member of the local media, so I could actually report on facts not just stuff that Ted Thompson and the “Trust in Ted” crowd likes to hear. Ted Thompson was FAKE NEWS long before Trump coined the phrase.

Holding the Seahawks to 12 first downs and 225 total yards was also a surprise. The hallmark of a Dom Capers defense is bend and break or almost break giving up yardage in big chunks like the final drive of the first half.

Not getting off the field on 3rd down is also a hallmark, but Sunday the Packers forced 5 3-and-outs (including a fumble recovery) and another 4-play drive out of 10 possessions.

The defense forced the Seahawks to punt on their first 5 possessions and 1 first down before the 8-play drive, 74-yard drive and 3 first downs that ended the first half. The second half the Packers offense basically kept the defense on the bench, which is good, considering recent history. Of the 4 second half drives the first was 3 plays and fumble recovery; 11 plays and 71 yards and a field goal; 4 plays and a punt and 7 plays and 52 yards and a field goal.

Now what actually happened with the defense? The post-game analysis said a lot about the Seattle offensive line being not a stellar unit. I was wondering about that when the Seahawks were listed No. 1 in the power rankings wasn’t that taken into account. I guess not. Wilson is a great quarterback, but, just like Rodgers, if he has no time to throw or run he is just good and always dangerous, but not Sunday.

Another positive was 4 passes defensed by the secondary by Randall, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Morgan Burnett and Rollins.

Also great was stopping the run holding the Seahawks to 90 yards rushing (although 5-yards a rush wasn’t very good). Eddie Lacy’s dreams of where to do the Lambeau Leap were squashed when he was held to 3 yards on 5 carries. His first carries were 2 yards and 6, but after that he was held to -2, 0 and -3. He did not look like the Eddie Lacy of old. No pop and no power. He may end up not the seeing the ball much when Thomas Rawls gets back.

The only negatives I have is the normal open middle of the field, which the Seahawks didn’t exploit as much as they should have, and the play of Clay Matthews and Davon House.

Matthews continues to be a non-factor in the pass rush. I am afraid his only future is the stand next to Rodgers and other people in commercials. He may even end up on Peyton Manning commercial. This may be his last season with the Packers.

House looked like the player that was allowed to leave three years ago (although being injury prone also was a factor and he was hurt all preseason in his return). He grabs too much and I bet he will end up being benched with Rollins moving to the outside (or maybe LaDarius Gunter or Josh Hawkins, 2 undrafted free agents) and Josh Jones taking over in the slot if Rollins is moved.

A related negative to Matthews was the non-factor of Ahmad Brooks. I don’t know how many snaps he had (I didn’t even know he was in the game), but he ended up with a concussion. If Matthews can’t rush the passer then Brooks was signed to do so. Sunday the Packers didn’t need the other side rusher, but Sunday night against the Falcons they will.

All in all a great start for the Packers defense. We will see if this was just a flash in the pan or the start of a dominate Packers defense when they face Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Falcons, which put up 44 points on them the last time they met. I’m hoping for the latter.